Reverie

by Shain Rose

  My mouth, I’m sure, opened to say something, but he stood there tall and sinister in the bluish glow that highlighted all his best features. The way his muscles bunched under that shirt, the way his hair was mussed just right, the way his eyes sparkled midnight blue … I couldn’t form words.

  I cleared my throat and pointedly turned toward my desk to search for my phone. When I found it, I switched on the flashlight to gather my things. “I don’t have time to make small talk with you tonight. You don’t have time, either, as it seems the electrical in Stonewood Tower is down.”

  “Shame.” He didn’t sound regretful at all.

  Approaching the brink of cracking that contract only to have my momentum stunted by a blackout frustrated me. I lashed out because of it.

  “‘Shame’? Not really, Jett. I don’t think I would enjoy making small talk with my new boss, although it isn’t like we’ve tried it. Instead, I’m completely ignored throughout the day and given elementary tasks as if I don’t have a college degree. Even though I got put in the damn all-star room where the sky’s never the limit for anyone except me. I’m limited to getting freaking coffee for Gloria.”

  His teeth shined like a wolf’s in the night. “If this job isn’t what you pictured it being …”

  I sighed and tapped my stiletto toe on the tile. “I just don’t see why I was put in this room. You could have put me anywhere. You have a whole legal team on the twenty-third floor.”

  “Gloria normally assigns desk areas to new employees.”

  “So, she wanted me in this room?”

  “Nope.” He popped the P and stalked toward me. “I put you where I wanted you, Victory.”

  “I’m useless here.” I motioned around the space. “Bob’s going to figure out the contract that I can’t change tomorrow, and I’m going to go back to getting only Gloria coffee because Josie will freak if I get anyone else a beverage.”

  “Bob already looked at it.”

  “What?” I recoiled at his words.

  “He doesn’t know what to do with it either.” He shrugged, his large shoulders bunching.

  “That’s not what you said.”

  “I know what I said. I did it to motivate you.” He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “The Armanellis are going to be a bitch to get under the right contract.”

  “That’s the Armanelli contract? It says Benson.” My voice went high.

  He nodded slowly and sucked on his teeth. “That’s confidential.”

  “Why wasn’t I made aware when I was working on it?”

  “That’s the meaning of confidential, Pix.”

  I pulled a little at my sleeve, not sure I wanted to say what I blurted out next. “Legally, Stonewood Enterprises needs to make me aware of that. I have a right to know. I could hold you liable for putting my life in danger.”

  “I’m not putting your life in danger.” His eyebrows slammed down.

  “They’re a freaking mob family,” I leaned in and whispered like someone could be listening. For all I knew, someone was.

  He rubbed his forehead. “That’s debatable.”

  “If you’re trying to get a written contract with them, that means—”

  “It means we get a written contract with them and protect Stonewood Enterprises from whatever they do outside of it.”

  “Protect? From what? Are they killing people?” Instead of dying from cancer, I was going to die from this. I just knew it.

  “You’re being dramatic. I didn’t take you for so much drama when I met you.”

  “When you met me, we were on a sunny beach with no stress,” I pointed out for the idiot of a man standing in front of me.

  “The Armanellis haven’t killed anyone in decades.” He rounded back to the subject at hand.

  “And that’s supposed to make me feel better?” I shouted. Then, I took a breath and said with as much disdain as I could muster. “You’re a lunatic. I’m not working on this contract.”

  “You already started, and I need Stonewood Enterprises protected.”

  “Well, with what is already written, it won’t be.” My words were jackhammers of truth we both needed to hear. “What are you thinking, Jett? Even if I were to come up with perfect sentences, it doesn’t mean anything. They can’t be trusted.”

  “Cade and Bastian have always been trustworthy.”

  “Then why the contract?”

  “Because their father and mine had an understanding. Without my father at the helm, we need to have something concrete, something in writing.”

  “As if the law will stop someone in the mob.” I rolled my eyes and grabbed my bag, so ready to be done with the day. “You’re wading into waters no business should be swimming through.”

  “Coming from you, that’s pretty epic.” One dark eyebrow raised in surprise. “Where’s the silver lining, Pix?”

  I blew a puff of air toward the ceiling. “I get that my positivity is somewhat frustrating at times, Jett. I know I’m a lot, okay?”

  His eyes widened in shock at my admission. I knew the truth though. My peppy attitude could be a turnoff. Sometimes, I couldn’t even handle my own cheerfulness. Some days I wanted to curl up in a ball and wallow in self-pity.

  Tomorrow, I could be out of remission though. When you’re contemplating death knocking at your door, it's hard to enjoy anything. So, I couldn’t live any other way now. This was living life to the fullest every damn day, even when it got tiring, because I’d come very close to not having a life to live.

  “I never claimed to be anything different, Jett. But I’m not stupid either. I like to avoid completely avoidable dangerous situations.”

  “Could have fooled me on vacation.”

  “Why? Because I wanted to go on a hike or two?”

  “You went gallivanting around that island looking for ways to die. You always do. You talk about wanting to feel alive and now you’re cowering in the damn corner without even trying to negotiate a contract.”

  “This isn’t cowering,” I seethed, poking his hard chest.

  “Then you’ll be at the meeting tomorrow when we discuss this further?”

  “Meeting?”

  “Yes. I invited the Armanellis here to see if we can come to a compromise.”

  “Jett, shouldn’t we think about what this means for the company?"

  “Bob can come if you don’t want to. Jax and Brey will be at the meeting as well.”

  What an immature way of getting someone to do something.

  I narrowed my eyes at him. “Send the invite to my Outlook. I’ll make sure my schedule is clear.”

  “Fantastic. Now, since that’s out of the way, are we fucking in my office or here at your desk?”

  “Are you insane?”

  “Not yet, though I might be on the verge after watching you all day in that outfit. What the hell are you wearing?”

  Screw him. This light-blue dress flowed around every part of my body and made me look as expensive as the rings inside the Tiffany & Co. boxes. I twirled in front of him and let the skirt flare at my knees. “You like it?”

  “It’s distracting, that’s for sure.”

  “In a good way?”

  “If you’re searching for a compliment, Pix, call Stevie later and ask him. I want to fuck you, not fluff your ego.”

  I ignored his callousness because his eyes dragged across my dress like he wished he could burn it off me with a look. “We should probably go home, Jett.”

  I didn’t want to, but one of us had to be smart. Who better than the one who didn’t own the company? “We can’t have sex in the office. There are probably cameras throughout this floor.”

  I didn’t care about the cameras. My heart beat faster just being in his proximity, my legs got weak, my pussy throbbed.

  “You’re right,” he said pointedly. “That’s why I turned off the power to this floor.”

  Beep. Beep. Beep.

  Three brief sounds reminding me what it felt like to barely be alive in a
hospital bed. They reminded me now to live. Three little pulses telling me to let him take me anywhere and everywhere. I would only live this once. Indulge once. Dive deep down into the place I felt most real and most alive. The time was now. I didn’t want to encounter the it’s-too-late realizations or the if-only-I-would-have regrets ever again. I had too much experience with that train of thought, and I wasn’t going back.

  “That’s cocky.” I shot a pointed look at the bulge in his pants as I backed up to rest my hip on my desk.

  He followed and pushed his body right onto mine. “Not cocky. Confident. Now, your desk or mine?”

  I breathed him in as he leaned forward to nip at my neck. My nipples tightened under the dress, and I mentally racked my brain for what I might be wearing underneath it. I’d dressed for Steven, not Jett.

  He slid his hands under the skirt and ran them up my thighs, then grabbed my ass. “No preference?”

  I gasped as he jerked me forward to feel him against me, reminding me just how freaking big he was. How lucky I was to be here with him for this moment. “Oh, God. Just here. Let’s do this here. Now.”

  I didn’t want to wait another minute. I grabbed my skirt and slid it up as I hopped onto my desk and spread my legs. White lace to match my white stilettos. I knew the color popped on my sun-kissed skin too. I stared at him taking me in. He wanted to own me, devour me, feed off me. He was there for the feast and would leave me right after.

  “So, your desk it is.”

  I nodded slowly. “I want it right here, Jett. You better devour me and leave me completely ravaged.”

  When he showed his teeth, no one would mistake it for a smile. Under the city lights, he’d warped into a wolf. “Good. I want you to remember us here when you look up at Mr. Stevie across from you tomorrow.”

  “You’re such a dick.”

  “The dick who’s about to fuck you.”

  I should have shoved him away right then. This wasn’t going anywhere, but my body didn’t care. It woke like a damn bear that had been in hibernation all winter.

  “In that case,” I lifted my hips and slid my lace thong off. Then I spread my legs and planted my hands behind me. “Fuck me good because Steven went home, which means I’m not getting any without you.”

  He growled and unzipped his pants. “You think he’s going to get you off, woman?”

  “Oh, he will. Just not tonight.”

  He laughed as he gripped himself and pumped once, hard. Pre cum already glistened at the tip.

  My mouth watered. “Are you waiting for something?”

  “Waiting for you to tell me this is your dream. Me and not him. I can see you practically concocting our future together. You and me in a nice house together or some shit.”

  “Your realities rubbed off on me, Jett,” I scoffed. “I’m just here for a good lay tonight.”

  “Now that, Pix,”—he whispered softly in my ear as he placed his hands right on top of mine behind me—“is the best thing I’ve heard all day.”

  He plunged into me. I gasped and arched into him, trying to adjust to how fast the man worked, how quickly he took what he thought was his to take. I had to adjust to how quickly my body gave in to the idea too because I already was trying to grab hold of the orgasm that was about to burst out of me. “We have to slow down.”

  He fisted my hair and pulled it back so that my neck was exposed. As he dragged his teeth along it, he pumped faster and harder. My legs wrapped around him, wanting him closer. “I intend to keep pace. You can’t control how fast you get off, that’s your problem.”

  His rough voice sent shivers down my spine and I almost bucked off the desk when he dragged his hand down my stomach to squeeze the soft spot near my hip. If he didn’t want me to sync with him, fine. I took his words for what they were. We were in this, doing this, feeling this. For ourselves.

  Sex with Jett wasn’t about making him feel good, wasn’t about trying to get him to want me.

  It was about me. Me getting off. Me feeling good. Me screwing a guy because I wanted to, not because I was making anyone else happy.

  The worrying about how I looked on that desk, how my face scrunched in ecstasy, how I might sweat too much, or my hair might not be perfect faded away. Worrying about sex with a man who didn’t care about anything except his own pleasure would have been stupid. With Jett’s lack of interest, my normal concerns died, and I felt more alive.

  I screamed into the office. I clawed at his back and took what I wanted. I dug into his muscles, squeezed my legs hard around his ass and met him thrust for thrust. I didn’t wait for him to kiss his way back up to my lips from where he was ravaging my neck, I grabbed his face and brought it to mine. “Kiss me like you mean it for one second, Jett.”

  “Just remember I don’t mean a damn thing. I’ll still be only your boss in the morning.”

  “Boss of the whole fucking city, but sure,” I shrugged.

  “Damn right.” His tongue kept up with our rhythm. His pillowed lips devoured mine and his hands were on my cheeks holding me to him. The kiss barreled me into an orgasm completely unhinged from anything I’d experienced before.

  I rode his dick selfishly, milking every ounce of it, feeling my heart beat, my breath panting in and out. He let me set the pace even though he said he wouldn’t. When we stopped, I opened my eyes to take in the lights that shimmered outside and his face as he watched me come down from bliss.

  His shirt wrinkled where I clenched it at his chest and his hair stuck up wherever I’d pulled at it. He leaned back and his twilight eyes assessed me. “You good?”

  “Does it matter?” I yanked him close by his shirt. “We keep pace, Mr. Stonewood.” I tightened the hold of my legs around him so he pushed back in me.

  “You’re still a goddamn knockout, Ms. Blakely. Even under my city’s lights.”

  16

  Jett

  One of my drivers idled outside Stonewood Enterprises, ready to take Vick home. I watched her evaluate the creases in her dress. Then she grabbed her purse to pull out a compact and smooth back her hair.

  She sighed. “Whatever. This will have to do.” She snapped the compact shut and gathered the rest of her belongings.

  “The SUV out front is for you.”

  She didn’t look at me, just kept putting papers in her bag. “I don’t need a ride.”

  “But you’ll take one.”

  She slammed her bag shut. “Do we have to keep doing this?”

  “Not if you just take the damn ride offered to you.”

  “Would you offer anyone else a ride home?”

  “Yes. I’d offer everyone a ride home if they were here this late.”

  Her whiskey eyes rolled all the way back. Then landed on me. “I’m too tired to argue with you.”

  “Then do as I say. We’ll get to that point eventually anyway. This way is faster.”

  She swiped her stuff off her desk. “Fine.” She turned on her heel as she hiked her bag onto her shoulder along with her purse. “See you at the meeting tomorrow, boss.”

  “Yeah, do me a favor and don’t dress like a damn present that’s begging to be unwrapped.”

  Her hair flared out, she spun around so fast. “This outfit is completely professional.”

  I shrugged. I knew she was right. However, it didn’t appear professional when the skirt swayed as she buzzed around the office and my dick stood to salute it. She’d bent over to talk with Bob, and I’d almost called her to my office so I could press the privacy button and have my way with that ass.

  Here I was, running the damn show, and I couldn’t think past my dick. I’d fired countless men for that very reason. I’d thought about firing a few more because they’d been doing the same damn thing I’d been: staring at her ass all day.

  “That bow under your tits makes men think you want them to rip that dress open. I promise.”

  “You’re deranged. You aren’t thinking straight. Probably because you work too much. Go home.”


  “You go home and take the ride.”

  Her nails dug into the shoulder strap of her bag. “Good night, Jett.”

  “Good night, Victory.”

  She walked out of the office toward the elevators, and I watched her the whole way. She didn’t turn back to look at me.

  Not once.

  The next morning, Bob and I combed through the Armanelli files one last time to check every possible angle.

  We were fully prepared for the meeting. Bob assured me that he and the legal team had it handled. I knew the Armanellis better than him though. We had nothing handled. As he sat there reworking one last scenario with me, I looked out of my office to see Vick laughing at something Stevie said.

  The two grew closer every day. I saw the way she relaxed in his presence, her shoulders loosening and her posture slouching. Her chin in her hand, she rested her elbow on the table, honey eyes gazing longingly at his lips as he spewed something dumb.

  I couldn’t hear it, but I knew. Stevie wasn’t bright. He’d brought no equity to the business so far. The best thing that ever happened to him was his father leaving him the company and my team immediately seeing an opportunity. Stevie would have run his business into the ground. Now, his employees would have a chance to flourish. They wouldn’t suffer the boredom of a mediocre, dead-end job.

  What Vick thought was so damn funny as she laughed at him, I couldn’t understand.

  I pulled up my messages as Bob explained he would video conference with Antonio to talk about the club the Armanellis and I owned together. I could recite our agreements about that club in my sleep, but I nodded and let him carry on.

  Me: You wore bright pink for our meeting today. With a bow, Pix. We just discussed this last night.

  Victory: Pink calms people. Also, discussing my work attire is probably not approved in the HR handbook. Actually, I seem to recall it stating that I should reach out to HR if I had questions regarding my attire. I don’t, but I will if I do.

  Me: I know you don’t have questions. I do. Like why you think pink calms people.

  Victory: Look it up!

  Me: That dress is inappropriate.